Roswell and the advancement of medicine

1947 Benedict Cassen used radioiodine to determine whether a thyroid nodule accumulates iodine, helping to differentiate benign from malignant nodules.

1947 George Moore used iodine-131 labeled diiodofluorescein to "probe" the brain for tumors at surgery.

1948 Abbott Laboratories began distribution of radioistopes.

1949 B. Selverstone used phosphorus-32 to detect brain tumors at surgery with a probe detector.

1950 K.R. Crispell and John P. Storaasli used iodine-131 labeled human serum albumin (RISA) for imaging the blood pool within the heart.

1950 Abbott Laboratories sold the first commercial radiopharmaceutical, iodine-131 human serum albumin (RISA).

1951 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sodium iodide 1-131 for use with thyroid patients. It was the first FDA-approved radiopharmaceutical.

1951 Benedict Cassen, Lawrence Curtis, Clifton Reed and Raymond Libby automated a scintillation detector to "scan" the distribution of radioiodine within the thyroid gland.

1953 Gordon Brownell and H.H. Sweet built a positron detector based on the detection of annihilation photons by means of coincidence counting.

1953 Robert F. Schilling invented a test of vitamin B-12 absorption, which plays a key role in nuclear hematology.

1954 David Kuhl invented a photorecording system for radionuclide scanning. This development moved nuclear medicine further in the direction of radiology.

1955 Rex Huff measured the cardiac output in man using iodine-131 human serum albumin.

1955 George V. Taplin used iodine-131 labeled rose bengal to image the liver. He also used radioiodinated hippuran to measure kidney function with scintillation detectors.

1957 W.D. Tucker's group at the Brookhaven National Laboratory invented the iodine-132 and technetium-99m generator, making these short-lived radionuclides available at distant sites from the production of the parent radionuclides.

1957 H. Knipping used xenon-133 to measure lung ventilation.

1958 Hal Anger invented the "scintillation camera," an imaging device that made it possible to conduct dynamic studies.

1959 Solomon Berson and Rosalyn Yalow invented the technique of radioimmunoassay to detect insulin antibodies in human serum.

1959 Picker X-Ray Company delivered the first 3-inch rectilinear scanner.

1960 Louis G. Stang, Jr., and Powell (Jim) Richards advertised technetium-99m and other generators for sale by Brookhaven National Laboratory. Technetium-99m had not yet been used in nuclear medicine.

1960 John McAfee and Henry Wagner imaged the kidneys with radiomercury labeled chlormerodrin.

1948 - Erwin Chargaff shows that in DNA the number of guanine units equals the number of cytosine units and the number of adenine units equals the number of thymine units.

1951 - Robert Woodward synthesizes cholesterol and cortisone.

1952 - Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase use radioactive tracers to show that DNA is the genetic material in bacteriophage viruses.

1952 - Fred Sanger, Hans Tuppy, and Ted Thompson complete their chromatographic analysis of the insulin amino acid sequence.

1952 - Rosalind Franklin uses X-ray diffraction to study the structure of DNA and suggests that its sugar-phosphate backbone is on its outside.

1953 - James D. Watson and Francis Crick propose a double helix structure for DNA.

1953 - Max Perutz and John Kendrew determine the structure of hemoglobin using X-ray diffraction studies.

1953 - Stanley Miller shows that amino acids can be formed when simulated lightning is passed through vessels containing water, methane, ammonia, and hydrogen.

1955 - Severo Ochoa discovers RNA polymerase enzymes.

1955 - Arthur Kornberg discovers DNA polymerase enzymes.

1960 - Robert Woodward synthesizes chlorophyll.

1937 Saul Hertz, Arthur Roberts and Robley Evans studied thyroid physiology using iodine-128

1938 John Livingood and Glenn Seaborg discovered iodine-131 and cobalt-60.

1939 Joseph Gilbert Hamilton, Mayo Soley and Robley Evans published the first paper on the diagnostic uses of iodine-131 in patients.

1941 Saul Hertz gave a patient the first therapeutic dose of iodine-130.

1946 Samuel M. Seidlin, Leo D. Marinelli and Eleanor Oshry treated a patient with thyroid cancer with iodine-131, an "atomic cocktail."

Originally posted by eaglewingz
Interesting idea, but I think the same argument that goes against "reverse engineering" applies to medicine. These advances are built on things discovered many years before.

Take iodine-131 for example. Here are a few dates from the 1930's that show the development of its use. It's not like these materials and procedures appeared from nowhere. There is a documented history of long, painstaking development.